Martha Wainwright, little sister to Rufus and daughter of Loudon Wainwright III and late singer-songwriter Kate McGarrigle, is among a slew of artists scheduled to perform at Shank Hall, the venue has announced. Wainwright released her third studio album last October, “Come Home to Mama;” it was recorded at Sean Lennon’s home studio and the first single “Proserpina” was written by McGarrigle.

Leonard Cohen was on his knees - sometimes one, sometimes the other, sometimes both - quite often during his performance at the Milwaukee Theatre Friday night.

This wasn't because, as he pointed out early on, he hadn't played a live show in Milwaukee for 38 years. Nor was it because he's 78 and probably doesn't care to stand any longer than he must. | March 16, 2013»Read Full Article(23)

Austin, Texas - A blistering punk band that sports brightly colored ski masks. An upbeat rapper who has no need for a stage. A gentle folk trio with a sound fresh from the Appalachian Mountains. A charming pop ensemble that spreads smiles with pretty vocals, kazoos and whimsy.

Beyond sharing a love for music, these acts - Masked Intruder, F. Stokes, Count This Penny and PHOX, respectively - share a home in Wisconsin. | March 15, 2013»Read Full Article(1)

Music writer Pet Levy sits down with the group French Horn Rebellion and talks about everything from where they go their name to what it was like growing up in Whitefish Bay. | March 15, 2013»Read Full Blog Post

Bay View residents may be having dinner and a movie flanked by gaudy vaudeville architecture and twinkling lights on the ceiling of the historic Avalon Theatre by Thanksgiving, said Lee Barczak, the Avalon's owner, at a news conference Friday.

An online auction of vintage theater items this week, including a wall-sized hand-painted Spanish mural and original seating from the theater's vaudeville days, is paving the way for $2 million in renovations, Barczak said. The renovations will transform the space, which at one time had a seating permit for up to 2,300 people, into two modern theaters with 240 and 80 seats, respectively, and in-theater dinner and bar service, while leaving vaudevillian facades of the original Avalon intact. Renovations could start in a month and a half after bids are finalized and awarded. A rendering could be ready in two months. | March 15, 2013»Read Full Article(8)

That's the question on the table at Off the Wall Theatre, where Dale Gutzman is directing and starring in Robert Shaw's "The Man in the Glass Booth," a contrived hothouse of a play that comes across better than it deserves, thanks to a titanic performance from Gutzman himself. | March 15, 2013»Read Full Article

Student Geraldlynn Stewart and her mother, Raquel Dillon, are two subjects of Sarah Carr’s book, “Hope Against Hope.”

New Orleans did not volunteer to become a laboratory for experiments in revitalizing public school education. But the widespread destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 led to a series of actions that have almost completely altered the city's schools.

There's an amusing and apt anecdote about William H. Gass, whose exhausting but also exhilarating new novel, "Middle C," has just been published.

During a 1978 debate, novelist John Gardner explained how he and Gass were different by stating that "my 707 will fly and his is too encrusted with gold to get off the ground." | March 15, 2013»Read Full Article

I continue to be embroiled in discussions, in the newsroom, via email and out in the community, with people who want to talk about "Envisioning the Seen," the experiment in civic dialogue that took place Monday evening at the Pabst Theater.

It's a sign, I think, that the event, despite its flaws, is novel, gutsy and full of promise. For a lot of reasons, I decided not to write about it earlier this week, mostly because I'd be repeating myself. This event was so like the ones that came before. But I might as well commit to words what I've been saying and emailing privately. | March 15, 2013»Read Full Blog Post(8)

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs debuted new songs Wednesday from its forthcoming album "Mosquito" at Stubb's in Austin, Texas, at a South by Southwest showcase. Photo by The Associated Press.| March 15, 2013»Read Full Blog Post(2)